Method of manufacturing tires.



A. H. HARRIS.

METHOD 0F MANUFACTURING TIRES. APPLICATION FILED MM5. 1915.

Ll'g.. PatentedN0v-3a1915.

an arianna' .enteren f ARCHER H. Henares,l erlyounesrown, omo.

To all fui/1.0m it may concern.;

Be 1t known that I, ARCHER H. HARRIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Youngstown, in thezcoun-ty of Mahoning and State of Ohio, have .invented certain new and useful Improvements in` Methods of Manufacturing Tires; and I do hereby declare the following /to be a full, clear,

and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skillpd .in the art to which it appertains to make andl use the same.

My invention relates to the manufacture MnrHon or HANUFA'CTUHING Tintas.

Speeiication of Letters Patent,

a greatly reduced 'scaleta-two-ply body maf ofpneumatic tires or outer casings, especially tiresv of the cord or 4thread-wound type,A and hasl particular reference toa new and improved method of making same. u

It isa well recognized fact that tiresl of the typel mentioned are more efficient in point of speed, comfort and-endurance, tha-n Y those employing frlctioned vfabric as the v basic material of construction;l Obviously the fabric ordinarily employed inthe manufacture of the carcasses renders the finished article comparatively stiif and unyielding.v As a consequence fabric-builtjtires, upon ,contacting with road obstructions, must bodily surmount same, with more' or less I `,lllatentjed Nom-3Q, 1915,' Appliaaon mea may 5,1915. `sannita.25,999.l l Y these, andall methods heretofore known, .the

present method of' operation has been inl described f'jf.' A x Y .ln the accompanying drawings which form part of this application for Letters 'i indicate llike parts in thev severalv views:

`Patent and whereon cgrresponding numeralsA Figure 1 representvs'in perspective'and upon terial for tires, .comprising a palrof spaced annular bead rings overwound` by, and therefore inelosed within, a flat tubular body formed of cords, or a continuous cord, crossing the structureldiagonally and in contact,

" of said'bead rings. lFig. v2 is. a transverse surface of the tire materialand :overlapping it at both sides. Fig. 3 is also a transverse sectional view, showing a partial tirecarcass retardationaccording to the character and extent of such obstructions, and with-more or less shock to car and occupants according to the' speed with which it is moving.' lThe more pliable and yielding cord-wound tires,

Y on; the contrary, accommodate themselves Ymore readily to vroad obstructionsrand sur- 1 vface irregulzrltles. 'For example, upon con` blown into approximate shape. upon'an. or

locking rings;l Fig. Llis alsoa'transverse breaker strip, and an' outer slab of tread dinary inner tube, and having -its beads. drawn together and' heldvbetween suitable extending around the entire circumference rubberprevious to'vulcanlzation, and, Fig.

V5 is' also a transverse sectional view, correspending with. Fig.,- 4, except, that afabricreinforced air bag-'has b 'eensubstituted for the ordinary inner tube and the entire struc# ture is here shown inc es ed within suitable @mold members :and finished by vulcanizaporarily embedded in the tread surface of the tire, which thereupon rolls over it practicall'lunobstructed, wlthout shock v and witlidut appreciable loss of time or diminution '-f speed. Heretofore the methods employedA for building cord-wound tires were that'of winding, by machine or by hand, onto a suitable ring-core rubberized cords which were subsequently inclosed within a I slab of treadrubber and thereafter vulcanized; or, similarly windin said cords in parallel arrangement and 1n zlgzag form f from bead to.beadcireumferentially around the entire structure; or, windin such cords back and forth over fastening pms or staples circumferentially arranged 'adjacent to both of the tire beads'. 1ncontradistinctionk to tion.A v

Reference being .had to the drawings and numerals thereon, 1, 1 indicate. a Ypail" ofl parallel spaced vapart beadringsof steel,

over which has been symmetrically and transverselyA wound cords,'or a contmueus cord, 2 previously rubberized, or impreg-A nated with rubber solution, having its va.

lill@ ,jacent edges in contact and crossing the said rings l, 1 at differentangles upon Lopposite f sidcs thereof as clearly shownby the broken away portion 'of Fig. 1 of thedrawin This overwinding of cords 2 results in a' t hollow tubular body material for the construction of-tires or tire casings as shown by the drawings, andparticularly .by Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, wherein isl illustrated a body material for two-ply tires; but obviously the number of plies may be variously increased according to requirements by similarly applying additional wrappings of cords 2. When this is done the angle at 5 which such additional strands is applied should preferably be caused to cross that of the'underlying ply, for reinforcing purposes,

the entire circumference of'said body ma-V terial, at its sidesoverlapping said material, I as best shown by Fig. 2, and adhering to the cords 2 wherever it contacts with them. The ii'ner surface of` the said sheet of gum 3 is thensoapstoned to render it non-adhesive,

other by agencypf oppositely disposed an- .nular locking lrings or bead positioning 'flanges 4, 4 to 'form a circular figure the cross sectional area of which is substantially conveXo-concave 1n form. An ordmary inner tube 5, having a radially projecting valve stem 6, is thereupon inserted into the concavi'ty of said body material, the locking rings or bead positioning flanges 4, 4 ,being closed to the position shown by Fig. 3, and the body material is inflated to ractically its completed form by agency o said inner tube 5 in'the ordinary and well understood manner. I y As illustrated lby Fig. 4 of the drawings the outside cords 2 of the tire carcass are next inclosed by an outer strip or strips 7 of sheet rubber which entirely surrounds and envelops the structure, upon which is centrally and 'circumferentially laced an encircling breaker strip 8 of suitable material, while outside of this is applied an inclosino' slab or tread strip of uncured rublber 9 W ich is rolled down to approximateA jshape by means of hand rollers or by other means. The tire carcass is now roughly completed and ready for vulcanizationor curing; locking rings 4,-4 with their bead positioning flanges are spread or separated,

'55 tube 5 is deflated and withdrawn, and a special tube or air bag 10, reinforced by one or more layers or plies of friction fabric 1 '11 is substituted. Rings 4, 4 being again y closed together the entire structure, including said rings, is then locked up between v suitable mold members 12 and 13, as shown by Fig. 5, whereupon fluid pressure as from an air line (not shown) is introduced via the inlet 14, in which condition the tire is placed in a suitable heater or vulcanizer and and bead rings .1, 1 are drawn towardj each.-

1,1sa,479 I cured, While thus maintained under internal fluid pressure.

' Thus it will .be observed that` the important steps included in the present method4 may be briefly enumerated as follows: Forming an annular substantially flat body material for tires`of gum-impregnated contacting adhesive cords, confining the .edges of l said material between annular bead positioning flanges, shaping said body material after inflation and before curing, as a subvstitute for the use of molds, these method stepsbeing equally applicable to the present method of operaticnand regarded as equivalents one of the other. stated at' the outstart, the present invention relates more especially to the construction of tires of the cord or thread-wound type, it is obviously applicable'to tire casings wherein a body material ofwoven frictioned fabric is employed. In like manner vVarious other modications and equivalent Nrsubstitutions may be lresorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, which invention having been thus describedy Y What I now claimA andl desire to secure by Letters Patent is: a

1. A method of manufacturing pneumatic tires including the following steps, namely, forming an annular substantially Hat body material, placing an rair bag within said body material and confining the edges of said material between oppositely disposed bead 'positioning flanges, applying fluid pressure to the interior of said air bag, and finally curing the tire while thusl under internal pressure.

And while, aSl

, los

2. A method of manufacturing pneumatic ricava 4 'materiah placing an air bag within saidZ body material'and confining the edges of said material between oppositely disposed sectlonal bead positioning flanges, applymg iuid pressure to the interior of said air bag,

and finally curing the tire while thus under lnternahpressure.

4. A method of manufacturing pneumatic tires including the following steps, namely, forming an annular substantially fiat body material of cord strands, -placing an air bag within said body material and confining the edges of 'said material between oppositely disposed separable bead positioning flanges, applyingfluid pressure to the interior of said air bag, and finally curing the 4 saidbody material with uncured rubber,

applying fluid pressure tothe interior of said air bag, and finally curing the tire while thus under internal pressure.

6. A method of manufacturing. pneumatic.

tires including the followingl steps, namely,

forming lan annular substantially flat body material of gum impregnated cord strands adhesively joined, placing an air bag with' in` said body material Aand confining the edges `of said material between annular Abead positioning flanges, surfacing saidJ lbody material with ulicured rubber, apply- .11eSSeS.

ving iiuid pressure to the interior of said air bag, .introducing the whole into a suitable mo'lffg' and finally curing the tire while thus y under internal L pressure.

7. A' method"`of manufacturing pneumatic tires including the following steps, namely, forming an annular substantially flat body material comprising lbead rings overwound by cord strands, placing an air bag within 'said body material and confining the edges of said material between annularbead po.- sitioning flanges, surfacing` said body material with uncured rubber, applying fluid pressure to the interior of said air bag, introducing the whole into a suitable mold, and finally curing the tire while thus under internal pressure.

. 8. A method of manufacturing pneumatic tires vincluding the following steps, namely, forming an annularsubstantially flat body .material upon annular spaced apart bead rings, placmgan airbag within said body material and confining-the vsaid bead rings between annular bead positioning fianges,

surfacing said body material -with uncured rubber/of suitable thickness, applying iuid pressurewto the interior of said air bag, introducing the whole into a suitable mold, and finally curing the tire while thus under internal pressure.

In testimony whereof'I affix my signature, in presence of two-,subscribmg wit- Y c s ARCHER H. HARRIS.

Witnesses: f

JVV. BLACKBURN, C. A. RICE. 

